1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for reaction which is employed in the production of viscous liquid. More particularly, it pertains to an apparatus for reaction which is suitable for use in reacting and mixing one type of viscous liquid with one or more other types of viscous liquid or with an added liquid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, a vertical-type reactor or a horizontal-type reactor has been employed for the production of viscous liquid. A vertical-type reactor of the type shown in FIG. 10, however, involves the following disadvantages when it is used for treating a viscous liquid. Because the vertical-type reactor 1 employs ribbon-shaped blades or anchor blades as a stirring blade 2 such as to stir the viscous liquid as shown in FIG. 10, (1) when a substance contained in a reactor becomes highly viscous (so as to have a viscosity of 10,000 P or over, for example), the substance becomes attached to the stirring blades 2, turns around together with the blades, and is not circulated in a vertical direction efficiently within the reactor. In consequence, effective stirring of the substance is prevented, resulting in the substance having an uneven composition. (2) If the substance is not circulated efficiently within the reactor, surface renewal does not take place sufficiently on a vapor-liquid interface, and effective deaeration is prevented even when it is required in a reaction.
On the other hand, a horizontal-type reactor 3 as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 realizes more effective treatment of a viscous liquid, and can treat the sort of liquid that would not be dealt with by a vertical-type reactor 1. The treatment effected by the horizontal-type reactor 3 is specifically effective in terms of the stirring action (in a vertical direction, in this case) and the surface renewal effects. In a horizontal-type reactor 3, however, the horizontal length of the reactor is greater than its height, and the substance cannot be stirred effectively in the direction in which the stirring shafts extend.